196 THE IRRIGATION AGL. 



charge of the distribution of the water, whose duty it is to see that 

 sufficient water is turned into the lateral by the company's ditch rider, 

 and that it is equitably distributed among those entitled to its use. 

 The proper location of these laterals is a matter of very great impor- 

 tance to economical and successful irrigation, and too great care can 

 not be exercised in planning them, both to obviate the necessity for a 

 multiplicity of ditches and to secure the best possible advantages for 

 diverting the water over the lands to be irrigated. 



FARMERS' DITCHES. 



Individual farmer's ditches are required to convey the water from 

 these community laterals to the places on the area to be irrigated 

 from which it can be most advantageously spread over the ground for 

 the irrigation of the various crops. These ditches should generally 

 follow the ridges and higher contour of the area to be watered, and 

 great care should be exercised in their location, so that all the land 

 can be covered. Large areas of crops are frequently burned up 

 through the careless and faulty location of these small ditches. 

 Experience gained in such a manner is expensive, and too much care 

 can not be exercised to secure their proper location in the first 

 instance. The diverting works on these lateral and individual 

 ditches are usually reduced copies of those used on the main canal, 

 being in this country most often wooden boxes with sliding regulating 

 gates. In the case of uneven and rolling ground it is frequently 

 found necessary to divert water from several places on the main 

 lateral to secure the proper irrigation of a single farm . The proper 

 location for all distributing ditches is possible only after a very 

 careful study of the topography of the ground in each particular 

 case. 



The irrigator, having his stream of water in his own lateral, 

 which is constructed across the highest part of the field to be covered, 

 is now ready for its actual application to the growing crops. If his 

 land is very favorably located, with comparatively uniform slopes, 

 his lateral is probably in a straight line across fhe upper end or side 

 of his field, with the greatest slope of the land at right angles to it. 

 If his land has not so uniform a surface, his lateral may follow its 

 irregular contour or be kept straight by diking it across the low 

 places. In general the lateral ditches, from which actual application 

 of the water to the crop is accomplished, should follow the line of 

 least descent from the highest point of the field, the greatest slopes 

 being perpendicular to them. There are several methods of applying 

 the water to the land to be irrigated. Of these the two most common 

 and generally used are the "flooding" and "furrow" systems. 



FLOODING SYSTEM. 



Under the flooding system small parallel ditches are constructed 



